Germany continued its dominance in the global cheese trade. In 2014, Germany exported 1,161 thousand tonnes of cheese totaling 5,122 million USD, 1% under the previous year. Its primary trading partner was Italy, where it supplied 23% of its total cheese exports in value terms, accounting for 49% of Italy's total imports.

Overall, the global cheese trade reached 33,224 million USD, with a CAGR of 6% from 2007 to 2014. In physical terms, it showed steady growth, rising from 4,875 thousand tonnes in 2007 to 6,253 thousand tonnes in 2014.

In 2014, Germany (14%), Italy (8%), the United Kingdom (8%), France (6%) and the Russian Federation (5%) were the leading destinations of cheese imports, together making up 40% of global imports. The shares of importing countries remained stable or showed a slight decrease throughout the analyzed period.

The Netherlands and France were among the other main global suppliers of cheese in 2014 with a combined share of 26% of global exports. However, the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2014 were the U.S. (+23% per year) and Poland (+8% per year). The U.S. strengthened its position in the global export structure, from 2% in 2007 to 5% in 2014.